Wood-bending machine.



No. 63u83,

Patented Aug. 29,1899.

C. W. & M. J. GREENWOOD.

WOOD BENDING MACHINE.

(Application led Jan. 17, 1898.)

3 Sheets-Sheet ll (No Model.)

No. 635,788. Patentd Aug. 29, |899. c. w a M. J. GREENWOOD.

WOOD BENDING MACHINE.A

(Application led Jan. 17, 1898.) (No'Model.) S'Sheets-Sheet 2.

y Maf www jg-WW .mi Nonms Pneus c'o, monnmm.. wAsNmaTuN. 0.1:.

fm. 93u88. manfredv Aug. 29, |899. c. w. c. M. J. snzsnwoon.

WUOD BENDING MACHINE.

(Application led Jan. 17, 1898.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 (No Medel.)

lill 4 l Vfl!!! M Mw Tn: naam: versus ca nu no.. wnsuwm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

vCHARLES VALTER GREENVOOD AND MARCUS JUDSON GREENVCOD, OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS.

WOOD-BENDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 631,788, dated August 29, 1 899.

Application filed January 17, 1898. Serial No. 666,887. (No model.)

and State of Massachusetts, have invented an- Improved food-Bending Machine, of which the following is a specification,refe rence being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Y Figure l is a front elevation, partlyin section, of our machine. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a plan.

The main feature of our invention is a machine made up of formers and iiexiblesheets of metal, each sheet having abutments for the ends of the strips of wood to be bent, and

means by which each former can be separated from the one acting with it on a pan, asthe sheet of metal and its abutments are called, so that that pan can'b'e removed, emptied, reilled, and replaced between the two formers which act upon it and the wood in it, this operation taking place while the other pans and the wood in them remain under compression between two of the formers, so that the attendant can remove the pan which has been longest exposed to heat, n`d., pressure, replace it filled with new woodgto/bebent,and again clamp it between its pai rofformers,then repeat that operation with a/second pan, and so on continually, the nimbfer 'of formers and the number of pans making up each machine being such that when the .attendant has filled, say, ten formers with nine pans, as shown in the drawings, the wood in the first pan will be set and ready to be removed. The attendant then separates the formers between which the first pan is clamped, Vremoves it, replaces it filled with fresh wood, and reclamps it, repeats that operation as to the second pan, and so continues.

Other features of our invention are means whereby each former may be detachably se- Each cross-head b is provided with a link b', which is permanently secured toit and is adapted to be secu red to the cross-head below 'by slip-pins b2.

The former B' at the `upper end of frame A is secured to screw-threaded shaft D, the screw-threads on which are engaged by the screw-threads in hub of gear d, so that the rotation in one direction or the other of gear cZlwill move shaft D endwise.

'The pans E, provided with abutments e for the ends of the strips of wood, are made -of strong pliable sheet material, preferably sheet-brass, so that they will conform under pressure to the shape of the formers B.

The gear d is driven by the pulley F through pinionf,gea1'f,'which carries pinion f2,which isin mesh with pinion f3. 9

The gear and pinions f', f2, and f3 are mounted on lever H, fulcrumed at h, so that swinging lever H on its fulcrum h to the right or left will bring the pinion f3 or f2 into mesh with gear d and cause the shaft D to move down and up, as will be clear from Figs. l and 5. The lever H is held in its different position by latch 7L', which fits into slots h2, h3, or h4.

The upper former B carries a finger h5, which just before the upper former reaches itshighest position (shown in Fig. l) engages latch h' and pushes it out of slot hand a bell-crank lever h6, actuated by a second finger k7 on the upper former B', engages stud hs, fast to lever H, and moves the lever back to the position shown in Fig. 5, thus preventing an excessive upwardmotion of the upper former.

We have shown the formers B cored out and connected by pipes b2,bent to form a helix between each former to allow the formers to be moved apart, and we prefer to heat our formers by steam conveyed by these pipes and supplied to them by pipes b3.

The operation is as follows: The various parts of the machine being in the position shown in the drawings-that is, the spaces between all the formers except the second and third being filled with pans fu'll of strips -in the process of drying and each former eX- cept the second and third being held to the one above it by the links b and slip-pin b2- the operator inserts into the space betweend the second and third foriners a pan full of steamed strips of wood. The latch 7L on lever H is then lifted out of Slot h3 and the lever moved to the left until the latch h' en gages slot 7l?, thus bringing pinion f2 into mesh with gear CZ and giving to shaft D a downward motion and with it the first and second formers. This downward motion of shaft D is allowed to continue until the strips in the pan just inserted are bent into proper shape between the second and third formers, when the latch 7L is lifted out of slot h2 and the lever H moved to the right until the latch 71,' engages slot h3, bringing pinion f2 out of mesh with` gear d and stopping the motion of shaft D. The second and third formers are then locked together by means of links l1 and slip-pins b2. The operator then removes the slip-pins holding the links which connect the third and fourth foi-mers, and the lever H is moved to the right until latch 7V engages slot h4, thus bringing gearf3 into mesh with gear d and giving to shaft D an upward motion, carrying with it the iirst, second, and third formers. tinued until finger h5 pushes latch 7L out of slot h3 and bell-crank lever 7i moves lever H to the left until the latch 7L' engages slot No. 281,104, dated July 10, 1883; to Sullivan,

This upward motion is con-.

No. 589,759, dated September 17, 1897, and to Burgett and Brown, No.V 588,743, dated August 24, 1897, and disclaim all that is shown in these patents, for our machine is the first known in which the Wood to be bent or embossed, or both, is clamped between formers in such wise that each pair of clamping-formels can be separated without separating any of the others.

Vhat we claim as our invention is- 1. The wood-bending machine above described made up of formers and means to connect each former with its neighbor with the wood to be shaped between them, and to disconnect each former from its neighbor to make up clamps for the wood to be shaped, which can be clamped and unclamped, each without clamping or unclamping any of the others.

2. In a wood-bending machine, a plurality of formers; means to connect and disconnect each former with and from its neighbor; and means to reciprocate the outermost former; all combined as set forth to enable any two contiguous formers to be separated and brought together,while the rest are connected, substantially as described.

3. In combination frame A, formers B B' mounted to be moved in frame A; links b secured at one end each to its former, slippins b2 to detachably secure the pin ends of links b to the former next the one to which the links are secured; and means to reciprocate the outermost former, substantially as described.

v CHARLES -WALTER GREENWOOD. MARCUS JUDSON GREENWOOD. lVitnesses:

'THATCHER B. DUNN,

AXEL A. RULAND. 

